Ingredients

Ingredients:

4 lbs rhubarb

4 lbs sugar

Teaspoon lemon juice

Optional Ingredients:

½ teaspoon butter or margarine

Gelatin

Ginger root

Few drops red food colouring

Directions

Both sweet and tart, rhubarb jam adds a bit of variety to an assortment of fruit preserves, and is surprisingly simple to make. Do some of the preparation the night before with this simple recipe, for an easy experience and a refreshing treat.

1. Wash and trim the rhubarb, patting dry. Chop into 1-inch pieces.

2. Layer the rhubarb into a large bowl and cover with the sugar. Leave the mixture out overnight. This will draw out the juice from the rhubarb.

3. The next day, sterilise the jam jars. Wash and rinse the jars thoroughly, then place them, face down, in an oven pre-heated to 140 degrees Celsius. This will not only enable the jam jars to dry completely, but will remove any chance of mould and bacteria. Leave the jars in the oven until needed, so that they remain warm and dry. Do not neglect to wash, rinse and dry the jam jar lids as well.

4. Place the rhubarb mixture into a saucepan. If desired, add the optional ginger root, bruised and wrapped in muslin, to the mixture.

5. Bring the rhubarb mixture slowly to a rolling boil, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon. If desired, add the optional butter or margarine to reduce foaming. Boil for about 25 minutes, occasionally skimming off froth. Add the lemon juice to set the jam and continue boiling.

6. After another 5 minutes, test to see whether the jam has set by ladling a spoonful of the mixture onto a cold plate. If the jam is set, it will wrinkle when you run the back of the spoon gently across the surface. Once set, add a few drops of the red food colouring, if desired.

7. The oven-warmed jam jars will allow you to fill them with the heated jam with less of a chance of breaking them. Filling all the jam jars halfway first, then topping them all off, also protects from breakage. Fill to within 1/8 inch of the top. Seal with the lids. This recipe yields about 100 ounces of jam.

Rhubarb that is picked or purchased early in the season will be juicer than later on, sometimes making the rhubarb harder to set. The optional gelatin can be added to rectify this. Preserved jam can be stored at room temperature, but must be refrigerated once opened.

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